With A on holiday and C busy entertaining out of town guests, pick of the week was left to Dee and Emma!

Dee:

There were a lot of choices this week, as there were a lot of good comics. But three books won my love more than the others.

One was part of the Marvel Must Have series, issues 1-3 of X-23 of collected into one volume for $3.99. I hadn’t read the book yet, and it was a great way to break into a fairly new series. It was also worth it! It’s a great book with great writing, and if you haven’t been picking it up it’s a great way to start. Marjorie Liu is a solid writer and she has a strong grasp on the character. I read the book twice in one morning, and will be heading back to my LCS for the newer issues, as I want to see where she takes Laura.

My second choice is Widowmaker part 3. The Black Widow/Hawkeye & Mockingbird crossover, this third part was penned by Jim McCann, and brought them face to face with the mysterious Ronin. I’m loving seeing these three working together.

Finally, is the newest issue of Batgirl #17. It’s a book that only keeps getting stronger, thanks to the excellent writing of Bryan Q Miller. This time we see a slightly different side to Steph, and her interactions with Damian are fascinating. I’m enjoying watching the two of them and how they change each time they deal with other. It’s just a great book, full-stop and I firmly believe everyone should try it.

Emma:

BATGIRL #17: One of the best gifts a second tier book like Batgirl could get is a solid TV writer. Just like John Rogers on Blue Beetle, Brian Q Miller has built himself a rock hard foundation with a clear direction for the protagonist and a supporting cast that both compliments her and function well on their own. Batgirl is by no means the most ambitious book on the stands, but there’s no reason it should be either. It’s DC’s most consistent book and it’s role is vital: making Batgirl a compelling, fun character that girls relate to and want to read about. It also boasts DC’s hottest artist, Dustin Nguyen.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #19: Paul Cornell is making a big splash at DC with three titles to his credit right now, two of which have given him the unenviable task of following Grant Morrison. I haven’t seen anything of his at DC that has made me laugh until I was both crying and convulsing like his Marvel work, but it’s only a matter of time because month by month his DC work is getting stronger and oddly enough Batman and Robin is what’s singing for me. It was slapped together as a stop gap arc, but you’d never know it from his white knuckled grasp of the tone Morrison set for the series or how he handles Gotham’s slippery status quo.

BIRDS OF PREY #8:When you think Gail Simone, the first two things that come to mind are likely to be strippers and kung fu, and there’s plenty of both on tap for the Birds! Gail’s been pushing a furious pace since the relaunch and showing no signs of letting up, which is why I’m so glad for my safe comfy Batgirl. I need it to decompress after another breathless round of BoP.

MARVEL MUST HAVE X-23/DAKEN This is new three issue trade thing is a bold move on Marvel’s part and it’s a damn smart one because in this market you’ve got to push your yearling books if you want them to survive, and giving someone a chance to jump right back into the singles is a great way to do that. Marjorie Liu is Marvel’s break out star of 2010, having launched X-23, Black Widow, and co-writing Daken with Daniel Way so there’s another incentive. What I love about her work on X-23 is that since the Women of Marvel one shot, she’s been bold about confronting the character’s troubled history head on as well as mapping out a way forward for her. In addition to that Liu, Way, and Wolverine writer Jason Aaron are writing the most cohesive family of books in the industry. They aren’t just facilitating each other, but working in tandem to write books that compliment each other. Everyone in the industry should have their eyes on the Wolverine family right now because it’s doing the impossible; putting out three different titles that work together just as well as they do on their own.